IELTS General Writing: one tip

Yesterday I forgot to mention my key piece of advice for writing task 1 in the General Training test. If I had to choose one key piece of advice for GT task 1, I'd say that you need to get the 'tone' right.

The tone of your letter is its character or attitude, either formal or informal. For a summary of the differences between formal and informal letters, read this lesson.

Comments

[like]

Hi Simon
I just wonder what kind of sign off do we use in informal letter? lots of love, best wishes, see you soon, or we can choose whatever we like? Thank you in advance

[kevin]

Hi,Simon,

With regard to the "tone", should we use formal words(verb, noun, eg. use "purchase" to express "buy" in a complaint mail) in a formal mail while use informal words(verb, noun) in an informal mail?
Also regard to closing sentence. According to the sample mail posted previously, "I await your prompt response" is one for the formal letter,especially for complaint mail;"Hope to see you soon" is one for the informal mail, such as a mail to friend. Is there any particular closing sentence for different scenarios, such as a mail for an interview, inquiry for information, invitation for a party or thank you letter? Appreciate it

[chanz]

Hi Simon
I have a big question regarding this tone.
When I sat for IELTS few months ago, I got a question to write a letter to colleague who will arrive to your office. Question explains that he has written to me asking the details about accommodation in our area.
Now, do i have to write this question as informal (with contractions) or semi-formal (without contractions). I wrote as using the second method and I got band 6.5
Please advise me.

[Claire]

Hi Simon,

I have the same problem as chanz. I sat for the IELTS test in Australia in January. Result has yet to be released. The question for General Writing Task 1 was to write a letter to a colleague to ask for help with your presentation to the management. I ended the letter with "yours faithfully". However, in real life, i may only use "Regards". Appreciate if you can shed some light on this. Thanks.